Friday, November 15, 2013

Eggplant-Potato Casserole

by Sheila ConnollyAt
the last of our farmers’ markets in town here, I snagged the last of the
eggplants from one of the vendors.They’re
small, but I’m a sucker for cute little vegetables.

It
seems a waste to dice them up, so I thought I’d do something that retained a
hint of their diminutive size.

When
I started considering recipes, I peeked at Marcella Hazan’s Classic Italian Cooking (I will be
eternally grateful to her for introducing me to quick pesto, which we eat all
the time at my house). Alas, her suggestions for eggplant were few.More troubling was her statement that small
eggplants tend to be bitter.How can
that be? I cried.When I checked other
sources (would you believe that Google filled in the blanks for me with “are
small eggplants bitter?”), they strongly disagreed.Sorry, Marcella.

So
I decided to try an eggplant-potato tart, mainly because when sliced, the
potatoes and the eggplants are just about the same in diameter.Slice them so they will cook at about the
same rate.

I
will admit that I don’t really like peeling anything.My theory is, if your
vegetables/potatoes/fruits are young enough and fresh enough, it won’t
matter.Besides, the peels are good for
you—roughage, you know. (I would not necessarily say this of big, tough
eggplants, but I do eat the skins of my baked potatoes.)

Traditionally
recipes call for salting the eggplant to draw out the liquid, lest the dish
become soggy when cooked.I’m of two
minds about that, but I guess it can’t hurt.Just dry off the slices before you start sautéing, and make sure you
don’t oversalt in the next stages.

Eggplant-Potato
Casserole

2-3
cups small eggplant, sliced about ¼” thick (about a pound)

1
tsp coarse salt

The
same amount of waxy potatoes (not Idahos), sliced to the same thickness

Cooking oil
for the pan

The Mega-Shallot

3
Tblsp minced shallots

Pepper

½
stick (1/4 cup) butter

breadcrumbs
or panko and/or grated Parmesan cheese for the top

Preheat
the oven to 375 degrees.

Slice
the eggplant and place in a non-metallic bowl and toss with the salt.Let sit for 20 minutes.Remove to a clean towel or paper towels and
blot dry.

Heat
about 2 Tblsp oil in a sauté pan over medium heat.Briefly sauté the shallots to soften, then
add the eggplant slices. Cook for 5-7 minutes, then set aside.

In
another, ovenproof sauté pan, add another 2-3 Tblsp of oil and sauté the potato
slices until they are soft but not browned. Remove half, then season what’s
left in the pan with salt and pepper.Add the eggplant slices in a layer over the potatoes, then return the
rest of the potatoes to the pan and season.Press down slightly to level.

Sprinkle
the top with breadcrumbs (you may mix in some grated Parmesan cheese) or panko,
then dot the top with small pieces of butter.Place the pan in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes, then begin
testing the potatoes to see if they are done (a sharp knife works well).

Remove
from the oven and let rest for five minutes.Serve immediately.

This
can be a main course for a light meal, or a side dish for a larger one (I think
it would go well with a roast).If you feel
like experimenting, you can add some herbs such as oregano when you’re creating
the layers.

I'm a sucker for cute little veggies, too (especially fingerlings), and this is a wonderful way to showcase those baby eggplants. On Marcella, that's interesting. Do you think she should have been more specific--maybe she was referring to black eggplants as opposed to other varieties? Or maybe she puzzled out that the seeds are the thing that make an eggplant bitter; and since small eggplants have less flesh than larger ones (a higher seed to flesh ratio, as it were), they would be more bitter. Either way, it seems to me that you're right, and she was mistaken. IMO, Chinese eggplants (long, skinny, purple) are a nice variety, too--less seeds and less bitterness. Thanks for sharing this lovely recipe, Sheila, and enjoy your weekend...

I once went to a farmers market where there were six or eight varieties of eggplant, all at once. I was ecstatic, and brought home at least four kinds. I was particularly fond of the softball-sized spherical ones that were pale lavender. As I recall, none of them were bitter. Maybe it's the freshness as well as the size that matters.